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Cardinals host Brewers in finale of rain-shortened series

Apr 15, 2007 - 3:51 PM Milwaukee (6-4) at St. Louis (5-5) 2:15 pm EDT

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- As much as the St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed their last win at home, they certainly would have preferred to have another by now.

The Cardinals will host the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday in a rain-shortened two-game series.

St. Louis, which has been outscored, 23-4 at home this season, last won at Busch Stadium in Game Five of the 2006 World Series.

The Cardinals have been woeful in the clutch, batting just .136 (3-for-22) with runners in scoring position.

An example of their unexpected struggles is Albert Pujols, who batted .331 with 49 homers and 137 RBI in 2006. He went 0-for-4 in Saturday's loss to Milwaukee to drop his average to .158 for the season, with one homer and two RBI.

Pujols, however, has enjoyed plenty of success in his career against Milwaukee starter Ben Sheets (1-1, 3.60 ERA). Pujols is hitting .393 (22-for-56) with three homers against the righthander.

In his last start, Sheets gave up five runs and nine hits in six innings of a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on April 7.

Sheets is 4-13 with a 4.04 ERA in 21 career starts against the Cardinals - the only team to which he's lost more than eight times. He also is 0-5 in six starts against St. Louis since the start of the 2005 season.

The Cardinals counter with Braden Looper (1-1, 2.08), who yielded just two hits over seven scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over Pittsburgh last Monday. The righthander, who was used exclusively as a reliever in his first nine major league seasons, owns a 3.34 ERA in 26 relief appearances against the Brewers.